Panic Room
Works from The Dakis Joannou Collection
Deste Foundation
Centre For Contemporary Art
Filellinon 11 & Em.Pappa street
Nea Ionia 142 34,
Athens Greece
The DESTE Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition Panic Room Works from The Dakis Joannou Collection in its new site at Nea Ionia (11 Filellinon & Em.Pappa street).
Panic Room, presents more than 120 works from the most exciting new and emerging artists in the US, England, Germany, Greece and beyond, who work with drawing as their primary medium. The exhibition attempts to map a group of artists that eclectically and unconventionally mix contemporary art with the culture of comics, graffiti, music, psychedelia and fantasy as well as highlight alternative ways of expression and collaboration.
A number of people including Ali Subotnick, Jeffrey Deitch and Kathy Grayson contributed and advised on the acquisitions and grouping of these works.
According to the exhibition curators, Kathy Grayson and Jeffrey Deitch, most participating artists not only (…) share working methods, subject matter or formal concerns, but rather that they form a complex community and collaboration-based network of very different practices that are hostile to generalizing terms but share a unique energy, ethos, and sincerity.
The centerpiece of this exhibition is a dazzling black and white wallpaper piece by Assume Vivid Astro Focus. A.V.A.F., a morphing collective put into motion by Eli Sudbrack, is the best example of how artists today move in networks of collaboration. Each instantiation of A.V.A.F. includes different like-minded artists, and as a result, the projects are always chronicles of the movements of Elis community. In addition, the installation of his piece in Panic Room literally encircles not only some of the artists that his long arms bring in along with but also a number of artists who share a similar approach and work in a similarly distinct framework.
Two major areas of art activity are highlighted in this exhibition: San Francisco, California and Providence, Rhode Island. These cities, maybe surprisingly, have germinated some of the most exciting activity going on in the young artists community.
The San Francisco group is characterized by a beautiful graphic line that came out of graffiti and sign painting traditions, along with a commitment to using found materials like salvaged wood and paint. Providence was the location of the now-infamous Fort Thunder, a deserted warehouse building where many local artists made their home, shaping a whole new style of art and music that has breathed new life into the art scene.
There are numerous ties between these two sides of America and they are by no means separate, rival camps. These communities are linked to each other in a new way basically through their commitment to underground community building, their anti-corporate, anti-establishment vibe and a do-it-yourself independence, not through galleries or the art market.
Using the different communities that intersect to create this new scene, Panic Room highlights networks of collaboration and personal relationships that are the foundation for stylistic and conceptual commonalities. It is not only that these artists share working methods, subject matter or formal concerns only, but rather that they form a complex community and collaboration-based network of very different practices.
Participating artists: assume vivid astro focus, Tauba Auerbach, Devendra Banhart, Hernan Bas, Hisham Bharoocha, John Bock, Mat Brinkman, Paul Chan, Michael Cline, Jim Drain, Simon Evans, Eye, Naomi Fisher, Ry Fyan, Yusuke Gunji, Robert Gutierrez, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, Christian Holstad, Elliott Hundley, Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Cameron Jamie, Xylor Jane, John Kleckner, Friedrich Kunath, Wes Lang, Robert Lazzarini, Matt Leines, Jose Lerma, Tim Lokiec, Nick Lowe, Ashley Macomber, Dominic McGill, Keegan McHargue, Dave Muller, Shay Nowick, Shaun O Dell, Philippe Perrot, Ara Peterson, Ben Peterson, Paper Rad, Kirstine Roepstorff, Clare Rojas, Georgia Sagri, Justin Samson, Lawrence Seward, Christiana Soulou, Alex Stein, Jiannis Varelas, Kelley Walker, Ralf Ziervogel.
Curators: Jeffrey Deitch, Kathy Grayson
Opening Hours:
Fridays 16.00-20.00
Saturdays: 11.00-16.00
Sundays closed
And by appointment from Monday to Thursday during office hours (i.e. 10.00-18.00)
Deste Foundation
Centre For Contemporary Art
Filellinon 11 & Em.Pappa street
Nea Ionia 142 34,
Athens Greece
tel: 30 210 27 58 490
fax: 30 210 27 54 862
email: info@deste.gr, www.deste.gr